FLASH
Flash photography is a powerful tool in a photographer's arsenal, whether it be a Rembrandt setup in a studio, a point-and-shoot camera's flash lighting a backlit lover at sunset, or anything in the realms between these extremes.
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​We film photographers are often forced to calculate flash settings manually. Most cameras we use lack TTL functionality (or at least, use older TTL protocols not supported by modern flashes from the same brand), usually leaving us with auto thyristor flashes as our best option for automatic flash metering. Thyristor tech is limited, though, and easily tricked. Sometimes manual control is just better, and learning to calculate at least basic flash control on the fly when in the field is somewhat challenging but highly rewarding.​​​
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REFLX LAB MINI FLASH
The Reflx Lab mini flash has a guide number of just 5', about 1.6 m, so is a very low-power option. I see it as a fill flash for daylight shooting, or a refular old flash for ISO 400+ film and a rather wide aperture, for example f/2.8. It only really offers solid utility at close distances so should be treated like a point-and-shoot flash with zero control.
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As this flash offers no manual controls beyond using the power switch to turn it off, I prepared two flash charts for reference - one in metric, and one in imperial units. The metric distances were chosen to match common focus markings on lens distance scales, and the imperial distances were chosen to best match whole stop aperture markings - I feel that 7' at f/2.8 is more useful as a guideline than 6' at f/3.2.
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Just infer anything else - it should be fine!
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These charges can be used freely; they're just Excel tables. If you do rehost them I would appreciate a little shoutout though!
GODOX IM30 COMPACT FLASH
The Godox iM30 compact flash has a much more powerful guide number of 15 m (a bit less than 50') so is much more powerful and usable as an everyday carry (EDC) option. It can also be scaled down to as little as 1/64th power, offering much more granular control.
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I have prepared charts in both metric and imperial units once again: one each with a column only for max power, and another for each unit system that includes both 1/4 power and 1/16 power too. As before, the imperial distances were chosen to match the full stops better.
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Just infer anything else - you have more latitude than you may think, even with a digital camera or slide film.
Again, these charts may be used freely as they are just Excel tables. Please do give me a little shoutout if you rehost them elsewhere, though.​
GODOX IM20 / im22 COMPACT FLASHes
The Godox iM20 and iM22 compact flashes have a measured guide number of 8 m (a bit over 25') so are less powerful than the iM30, but are significantly more compact in exchange. They trim out some of the nicer secondary and tertiary features of the iM30 too, but the flash power is the main difference.
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Both full and condensed charges are provided in case you want to print and stick them to the flash without needing a magnifying glass to read them.
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